Capture The Evidence You Need With A Vehicle Drive Recorder

It’s a fleet manager or professional driver’s worst nightmare. An accident happens, you or your driver aren’t at fault, but everyone has a different story for insurers and for the authorities. You can prevent this from happening by equipping your vehicle or your fleet with the right gear.

The solution that no commercial vehicle should be without is a multi-channel drive recorder. A drive recorder is an advanced, customisable vehicle surveillance device. Neltronics offer a range of multi-channel drive recorders that can do wonders for the safety and security of your fleet.

Vehicle drive recorders have a few important advantages over windscreen dash cams. For starters, it’s out of the way. The driver doesn’t have an extra distraction hanging off of the windscreen. It has a permanent power connection so you don’t have to worry about charging it or keeping it plugged in. For the driver, it’s out of sight, out of mind.

Most importantly, it can support multiple different types of cameras simultaneously. With a windscreen dash cam, you’re stuck with whatever camera is built into the unit. With a proper vehicle drive recorder, you can use any kind of camera you want and you can mount them wherever you want inside or out of the vehicle.

(example: a multi-channel drive recorder mounted under the rear seat)

One of the most popular vehicle drive recorders that Neltronics sells is the DVR-4000Q. When you think of “DVR” you might think of a box you have plugged into your TV that records your favourite shows. A very similar technology is used in vehicle drive recorders.

As a digital video recorder, it records video on either a portable hard drive via a USB port or on up to four SD cards. The SD cards make it simple to quickly move a recording from the recorder into your computer. You can also view video footage directly from the recorder via an RCA video output.

How much video you can store on a certain device depends on the length and quality of the recording. The lower the resolution, the longer you can record and vice versa. If you want to record all the time and the vehicle it’s on is crossing a lot of miles, a high-capacity hard drive would be the best option. If you’re only recording occasionally or you just need it for short trips, SD might be better.

The DVR-4000Q device has a built-in GPS, but it isn’t used for navigation. It’s used to log the exact position and speed of the vehicle it’s on. At any point in a video recording, it allows you to pinpoint where it happened and how fast your vehicle was moving. This is crucial in the event that you need to provide hard evidence to insurers or authorities.

This is a four channel vehicle drive recorder, but why would you need four different cameras recording your drive?

How you use those channels is totally up to you. When you start thinking about how you can use all four channels, countless possibilities come to mind.

You could have one in front of the vehicle, one behind the vehicle, one recording the driver’s cabin, and another recording the payload. Maybe you want all four on the outside of the vehicle for maximum evidence in a potential accident. The beauty of this vehicle drive recorder is you can use any kind of camera you want to suit your needs.

(an example of one of the many types of external commercial grade vehicle cameras available)

When you’re shopping around for cameras to hook up to the DVR-4000Q, you’re going to see lux measurements.

Lux is the unit of measurement for illuminance. You’re going to want to find cameras with very low lux ratings.

The lower the lux rating, the better it will be in low-light conditions. If you need your cameras working at any hour of the day, low-light performance is vital to get a clear, accurate recording.

For installation, you can follow the included instructions or you can hire any qualified installer or auto electrician. We encourage professional installation to give you the best results and to ensure it gets done right the first time.

On top of the benefits of safety and protection, a vehicle drive recorder can be used to train new drivers. Take a look at something your driver did well in a real life situation and use that as an example for new recruits. Seeing real footage of a real driver will stick with them a lot more than a boring slideshow.

Don’t get caught in an emergency with a lack of evidence. A drive recorder is a great way to protect yourself and protect your fleet from a damaged reputation or an expensive lawsuit. No matter what your reasons are for requiring a vehicle drive recorder, the DVR-4000Q available from Neltronics is up to the task. It’s feature-rich, it’s easy to use, and it’s an excellent value.